The Growth of Commercial Short-Term Rentals

“Boston’s working class is struggling. The cost of housing continues to skyrocket even as the median wage has declined. The latest Greater Boston Housing Report Card found families with children especially are experiencing “an alarming growth of housing insecurity and homelessness.” Meanwhile, developers continue to pursue more luxury housing instead of the low- and middle-income housing that Boston residents need.

Now, there is a new threat to Boston’s scarce stock of affordable housing. Commercial short-term rentals are spreading across the city, and increasingly encroaching on permanent housing for Boston residents and squeezing an already-tight housing market.
On top of that, commercial short-term rentals are undermining the character and safety of neighborhoods and communities for those permanent residents who have been able to stay.”

Community Labor United empowers community-based organizations and labor unions to build strategic campaigns that protect and promote the interests of low and middle-income working families in the Greater Boston Area.